The Arkansaw traveler., 1887-08-13

I Jeanne-whom had gone to see that morning before leaving the city. But, Oh reaching the manor, I could dis cern no trace of life or occupation about it. Ihe window shutters were closed on the ground floor, and in the windows of the upper story no ray of light stole out upon the surrounding darkness.
 A vague feeling of dread began now to affect me. But, bracing myself up, entered courageously. There was no one in the quaint, old fashioned drawing room; there was no one in the great, cold kitchen, where the pots and pans all polished and in per- feet order, the clean, tirele,s grate and empty cupboard, told of the final de- parture of the solitary servant. I pur- sued my investigation upstairs. In the spacious bedroom situated above the parlor it was easy to recognize the room that Miss Rayner had chosen for her own. Her handbag and trav- cling portfolio-both in Russia leather and both marked with her monogram ill silver letters-were on the table. The half burned down candles, more- over, suggested recent occupancy. Stranger still, upon the bed lay Miss Rayners walking things; her black lace bonnet, with tuft of velvet pan- sies; her narrow bordered, black India shawl; her silk umbrella with it's cu- rious handle in antique, oxydized sil- yer, and pair of brown gloves in un- dressed kid. Surely she must be in the house, 1 thought, since here are her bonnet, gloves and shawl. But after looking through every room on both floors, after calling as loudly as l could, for 1 was beginning to get alarmed-I came back to the bedroom with the certainty that wherever Miss Rayner might be she was not in the house.
 l lighted candle on the mantel- piece and began to look about, half fearing to come upon the face of some tragedy-or, possibly, some accident. But no such trace was visible; every thing was clean and empty and Ill good order. Yet on the bed lay the bonnet and shawl and gloves mute evidence that Miss Rayner had been there but lately, and that she had not gone away.
 My blood now began to run cold. What horrible mystery WIS here? While still puzzling over this ques- tion, l mechanically took up the long, neatly stretched-out gloves and drew them through my hand. In so doing my palm encountered a hard sub stance enclosed in one of them. I turned towards the table and shook the glove, to see what this might be.
 From the finger of the glove there fell human finger, with a dull thud, upon the table.
 A horror fell upon me at the sight. It seemed as if some awful presence were there in the room beside lAe. | With sudden shiver, not knowing what I did, l knocked over the candle and extinguished it. This added to my terror. 1 seemed to feel the cold breath of the occupant of the room close to me. hurried from the house, making the best of my way through the rain and darkness to the l l0iil Outi NUT WAS IL uuIlI l was safely ensconsed in my room in Paris that I recovered my nerve. Then I bethought me of the letter I had found on the table beside the trunk. l drew it from my pocket and tcre it open, with a feeling of mingled curiosity and apprehension. It contained bank notes to the amount of two hundred dollars, and the fol- lowing epistle:
 Should you disob:y my order and open this letter, Stephen, before full filling my behest, remember that you have taken a solemn oath to do as commanded you. Read no further till you have consigned the black trunk to the Bottomless Pool. And remember, too, that should you fail to execute my command, my curse shall rest upon your head so long as you shall live. To euard against any pos sible annoyance or trouble that might be incurred by you for fulfilling my wish in this affair, 1 have decided to write out the following statement, to be used by you in case of such a con- tingency:
 "I have always had a passion for the study of medicine and for the investi- gation of the causes and symptoms of obscure maladies. My brother, the sole relative left to me after the death ot my parents, was a physician, and aided me and sympathized with me in my medical study. We were both very fond of travelling and when we found ourselves left alone in the world. each with an ample fortune, we decided upon undertaking a journey to the less-visited quarters of the world such as India, China, Australia and the Sandwich Islands. need not give you any description of our wander